Skyscape³

Crippled by thriftiness

Wednesday April 27, 2011

I've been having a hard time lately balancing career and conspicuous consumption.

I don't have a smartphone. I don't even have a phone with a monthly plan: I purchase minutes whenever I need a top-up. And, as a result of my avoidance of a smartphone, I don't use Twitter in my daily life. It's such an expense - a $400 phone plus thousands in required plans and potential buyouts.

I don't have a tablet, an iDevice, or an MP3 player that does more than blink the song title happily back at me as I jog. I couldn't imagine spending more than my car (I drive clunkers) on a device that's obsolete in 6 months, while not providing any heavy computing power or even a keyboard in the meantime.

I don't use a PVR. I barely watch television: I sometimes use one of the radio-to-television stations while I clean, and I like being able to watch the newscast when I'm not at work, but were it not for those minor things I'd be canceling entirely. The idea of spending obscene amounts on a monthly television plan just doesn't gel.

I own a PS3 and a PC, but no other consoles. I own a limited library on my PS3, and play a minimal amount of video games on my computer. I only play the games I genuinely care about and want to spend money on: I'm notoriously cheap with video game purchasing. The photos of my friends' game collections make me cringe: even at an average $30 a game, they've spent a good portion of a university degree on games, and an untold number of hours.

So... by not having all of these trendy expensive toys, am I really hindering my career and the perception of my tech-savviness to those around me? Even the business write-off aspect doesn't increase the perceived value of having them. Is it unreasonable for a web developer in this day and age to avoid things that just don't make financial sense, even if they're becoming a bigger and bigger part of the job?

I see people who absolutely don't need these devices purchasing them, particularly those who have limited funds. It's confusing and discouraging to me: why go into debt for these tech toys? They don't even need them in their workplaces; they purchase them for the cool factor or for the kitsch.

I just can't do that. It's not that the money isn't there - I save heavily, and could easily afford all of the above devices. The issue is that I value having money in the future instead of things that give absolutely no value past their obsolescence... but is that removing my ability to make money and stay relevant in the future? It's quite the headache to me.